“The joke is that we’re ten years behind in fashion and ten years ahead in conflict, so this is the material that we’re working with,” says Tal Erez, chief curator of Jerusalem Design Week, who, with artistic director Anat Safran, recently concluded the eighth iteration under the bold and politically loaded theme of EAST. At its core, the theme asked and challenged: For whom and what is half of the world considered East? Through exhibitions, performances, workshops, and talks, the program sought to not only address divisions between West and East Jerusalem, but also notions of regional identity within the Middle East as well as the “Far East” at large. “Our tendency is to look at the East from a removed folklorist perspective,” as Erez says, referencing clichés of Zen, yoga, and Orientalism, “but the East does not exist, because the world is round.”

The week-long event, held late last month at the landmark Hansen House, brought together a global set of designers, graduates, and curators from Israel, Palestine, China, Japan, Turkey, India, Belgium, the Netherlands, Romania, and more, showcasing more than 100 projects in all. Staged as a building-wide takeover, with select installations held off-site throughout the city, the festival’s purview was decidedly non-Eurocentric, and—in contrast to more established fairs in an increasingly jam-packed calendar of global design weeks—was rooted chiefly in a non-commercial inquiry.

In contrast to well-trodden design destinations such as Milan or New York, “We don’t have a history of industry or craft, or a long cultural history of design,” says Erez, who describes Jerusalem as a “petri dish” rife with social, political, and religious struggles. Here we share a few highlights that shed light on this year’s curatorial theme.

90 DegreesLike most structures in the city, Hansen House is built from so-called Jerusalem stone, various types of limestone and dolomite that were used in the ancient city (and remain the primary building material today, under a municipal mandate formalized over 100 years ago). Originally a 19th-century hospital for leprosy patients, and in 2011 transformed into a cultural center for art, tech, and design, Hansen House is also a designated landmark.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

90 DegreesLike most structures in the city, Hansen House is built from so-called Jerusalem stone, various types of limestone and dolomite that were used in the ancient city (and remain the primary building material today, under a municipal mandate formalized over 100 years ago). Originally a 19th-century hospital for leprosy patients, and in 2011 transformed into a cultural center for art, tech, and design, Hansen House is also a designated landmark.

90 DegreesTasked to create a building-wide intervention with sensitivity to the historic structure, Tel Aviv–based HQ Architects looked to the flexibility of construction scaffolding to create 90 Degrees, an installation that reoriented visitors toward the building’s east.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

90 DegreesTasked to create a building-wide intervention with sensitivity to the historic structure, Tel Aviv–based HQ Architects looked to the flexibility of construction scaffolding to create 90 Degrees, an installation that reoriented visitors toward the building’s east.

90 DegreesWrapped around the building and carpeted in a hot-pink hue not normally seen in the beige and tawny tones of Jerusalem’s cityscape, the dramatic walkway formed a bold entrance into the festival, elevating visitors to take in panoramic views and improving circulation to the courtyard and outdoor installations.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

90 DegreesWrapped around the building and carpeted in a hot-pink hue not normally seen in the beige and tawny tones of Jerusalem’s cityscape, the dramatic walkway formed a bold entrance into the festival, elevating visitors to take in panoramic views and improving circulation to the courtyard and outdoor installations.

East of SunSundials and the compass rose served as the inspiration for this circular pavilion in front of Hansen House—designed by Daniel Zarhy, Lila Chitiyat, and Dafna Kron—which hosted a series of performances and events throughout the duration of the week. With a stage set at its center, the pavilion simultaneously set its gaze inward and outward, subverting directionality, while the open-roof structure framed the passage of sunlight throughout the day.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

East of SunSundials and the compass rose served as the inspiration for this circular pavilion in front of Hansen House—designed by Daniel Zarhy, Lila Chitiyat, and Dafna Kron—which hosted a series of performances and events throughout the duration of the week. With a stage set at its center, the pavilion simultaneously set its gaze inward and outward, subverting directionality, while the open-roof structure framed the passage of sunlight throughout the day.

Orientation“The East is not an indication of place, but a direction,” write Erez and Safran, who commissioned infographic designer Roni Levit to create a work revolving around maps. Levit’s research proved to be so rich, however, that they decided to present a sampling of her findings. On display were Midcentury advertisements by airlines like TWA, KLM, SAS, which depicted a vast world easily conquered by modern flight; historic maps depicting religious narratives; and diagrams showing how the construct of time zones has developed over time.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

Orientation“The East is not an indication of place, but a direction,” write Erez and Safran, who commissioned infographic designer Roni Levit to create a work revolving around maps. Levit’s research proved to be so rich, however, that they decided to present a sampling of her findings. On display were Midcentury advertisements by airlines like TWA, KLM, SAS, which depicted a vast world easily conquered by modern flight; historic maps depicting religious narratives; and diagrams showing how the construct of time zones has developed over time.

OrientationJuxtaposed alongside one another, Levit’s exhibition demonstrated how mapping has long been a form of subjective expression—often shaped by imperialist interests and political agendas that continue to shape and color how viewers understand their place in the world. That’s only further underlined in the era of Google Maps and GPS, as another work shows, when boundaries, names, and destinations are tailored to a user’s location and updated in real-time as borders shift.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

OrientationJuxtaposed alongside one another, Levit’s exhibition demonstrated how mapping has long been a form of subjective expression—often shaped by imperialist interests and political agendas that continue to shape and color how viewers understand their place in the world. That’s only further underlined in the era of Google Maps and GPS, as another work shows, when boundaries, names, and destinations are tailored to a user’s location and updated in real-time as borders shift.

Club AllA stint abroad in Shanghai proved eye-opening for Israeli designer Hadas Zucker, who transformed a gallery space within the Hansen House complex into a night club celebrating the maximalism and hyperreality of underground subcultures in China today. At the evening launch party, a live DJ blasted throbbing techno beats beneath black lights, as visitors queued to enter a neon-lit den filled with various art installations by contemporary Chinese artists, ranging from video shorts and VR works, to a display of functional face masks by Zhijun Wang that are fashioned from hypebeast sneakers.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

Club AllA stint abroad in Shanghai proved eye-opening for Israeli designer Hadas Zucker, who transformed a gallery space within the Hansen House complex into a night club celebrating the maximalism and hyperreality of underground subcultures in China today. At the evening launch party, a live DJ blasted throbbing techno beats beneath black lights, as visitors queued to enter a neon-lit den filled with various art installations by contemporary Chinese artists, ranging from video shorts and VR works, to a display of functional face masks by Zhijun Wang that are fashioned from hypebeast sneakers.

The Matchmaker ProjectDaniel Nahmias and Tariq Nassar presented the third iteration of the Matchmaker Project, which pairs local industrial designers and skilled craftsmen to collaborate on the production of new works. For this year’s edition, in step with the curatorial theme, the duo focused their attention eastward, working with contemporary Palestinian designers from East Jerusalem and artisans from the West Bank.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

The Matchmaker ProjectDaniel Nahmias and Tariq Nassar presented the third iteration of the Matchmaker Project, which pairs local industrial designers and skilled craftsmen to collaborate on the production of new works. For this year’s edition, in step with the curatorial theme, the duo focused their attention eastward, working with contemporary Palestinian designers from East Jerusalem and artisans from the West Bank.

The Matchmaker ProjectNahmias and Nassar did not shy away from the realities of Israeli occupation or of a Palestinian state in perpetual crisis. Instead, the project simply offered a frank window into the traditions of a culture not often seen on a global stage—let alone at an Israeli government–funded festival.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

The Matchmaker ProjectNahmias and Nassar did not shy away from the realities of Israeli occupation or of a Palestinian state in perpetual crisis. Instead, the project simply offered a frank window into the traditions of a culture not often seen on a global stage—let alone at an Israeli government–funded festival.

Boutique ShawarmaMore than a dozen young designers collaborated to present a salon—both literally and in the artistic social sense—in this live-performance installation that combined a cocktail-mixing workshop, rug weaving demonstration, along with stations to receive complimentary haircuts, nail art, and even stick-and-poke tattoos.

Courtesy Dor Kedmi

Boutique ShawarmaMore than a dozen young designers collaborated to present a salon—both literally and in the artistic social sense—in this live-performance installation that combined a cocktail-mixing workshop, rug weaving demonstration, along with stations to receive complimentary haircuts, nail art, and even stick-and-poke tattoos.

The Middle Middle EastIt can be hard to discern the contours of a country from within. For Israeli graphic designer Oded Ben Yehuda, time spent abroad as a graduate student in London helped form his outlook on his home nation. Installed at the Museum of Islamic Art, located a few blocks from the Hansen House, his exhibition The Middle Middle East collected twenty messages and narratives about Israel, culled from various public figures, that “have been embedded within our collective memory, and express a local paradox,” he says.

Courtesy Dor Even Chen

The Middle Middle EastIt can be hard to discern the contours of a country from within. For Israeli graphic designer Oded Ben Yehuda, time spent abroad as a graduate student in London helped form his outlook on his home nation. Installed at the Museum of Islamic Art, located a few blocks from the Hansen House, his exhibition The Middle Middle East collected twenty messages and narratives about Israel, culled from various public figures, that “have been embedded within our collective memory, and express a local paradox,” he says.

The Middle Middle EastThe typographic assemblage wrapped all four walls of the gallery space, interspersed with images of each speaker’s eyes, all looking askance in different directions. Simple yet evocative, it was a powerful deconstruction and critical look at the rhetoric that has shaped Israel’s national identity and the Middle East at large. The region is nothing if not constantly in flux, as he further highlighted in a motion graphic that morphed between the many borders and boundaries that have defined it, from the years of the Ottoman Empire to the present day.

Courtesy Dor Even Chen

The Middle Middle EastThe typographic assemblage wrapped all four walls of the gallery space, interspersed with images of each speaker’s eyes, all looking askance in different directions. Simple yet evocative, it was a powerful deconstruction and critical look at the rhetoric that has shaped Israel’s national identity and the Middle East at large. The region is nothing if not constantly in flux, as he further highlighted in a motion graphic that morphed between the many borders and boundaries that have defined it, from the years of the Ottoman Empire to the present day.